


One Star by the Next

by LucilleGuignol



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Romance, Azura Riannon is suffering, F/M, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), POV G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch, Patch 5.2: Echoes of a Fallen Star Spoilers, Post-Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25210564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucilleGuignol/pseuds/LucilleGuignol
Summary: G'raha Tia knew. He knew that she had gotten sick of his tendencies of martyrdom. Yet somehow, underneath the starry sky of Norvrandt, he still felt like his death was the only solution. Or at least, that it was inevitable.Yet despite it he couldn't shake those thoughts out of his head - of how much he loved her.
Relationships: G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch & Warrior of Light, G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 20





	One Star by the Next

The air within the Ocular wound up becoming stale, almost suffocating. Mayhaps it was just proof that even the most workaholic of individuals need to rest. Be that as it may however, the Exarch had been busy looking up at the starry night sky, the chill in the air being a welcome respite from slaving away in his study to help his allies return home.

To fix the mistakes he made.

Even if it meant that he had to die to make it a reality.

Yet G’raha Tia knew. He knew that if his original plan had come to fruition that he would leave her alone again. He would leave the girl he never stopped loving behind, never being able to tell her of his true intentions, of his true feelings that never faded away even as he slept. For he dreamed of her, and even when she didn’t know who he _truly_ was, even if she had all the rights to dislike him… she didn’t.

And he had to watch as she screamed out his name in tear-filled agony as he was preparing to absorb the Wardens’ Light from her. Mayhap it was a blessing in disguise that Emet-Selch had shot him, even if it would be one that’s steeped in irony.  
  
In the midst of it all he couldn’t help but lean towards the railing, bowing his head down as he let out a sigh. The pain had stopped a while ago, yet he remained careful so as to not strain his body any further.

Azura.

He still remembered their time together as members of NOAH. How she greeted him with a smile as bright as the sun and twice as warm, how he had witnessed her elegant yet quick footwork as she quickly dispatched of enemies with her lance. And in those moments of relative quiet and peace, where they would sit down at the entrance to the Labyrinth, gazing at the stars and talking about what they wished for. And in the end, how Azura tearfully bade him farewell before the doors to the tower itself shut close.

For her, he had been asleep for three years.

For him, she had been dead for a hundred.

Where there once was only a four-year gap between them, there was now almost a century.

And even if she had barely aged for him, she wasn’t the same when he finally saw her again.

“... Mind if I join you?”

In the midst of it all G’raha had seemingly not heard the footsteps behind him. Even before he could answer she had already put her arms on the railing beside him, her ever-so-pale hands forming a make-shift headrest where she placed her chin.

Those ivory scales and curved horns, those icy eyes… but G’raha Tia knew full well what Azura had gone through in three years. Her timid nature had been traded out for stoicism, her optimism for disillusionment. And he had paid attention to the fact that she rarely smiled anymore.

It’s as if her hair being bleached fully white due to the trauma of having her soul torn apart was but a footnote in what she had gone through. All it does is remind him of the fact that he wasn’t there for her, and it hurt.

“I’m assuming you couldn’t sleep?” he asked, the best possible icebreaker he could think of. Azura just looked at him, one eye hidden by her fringe. She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh though.

“You could say that, aye. My thoughts are constantly running around in my head ever since the meteor shower. Probably goes even further than that.”

“A lot has happened in the past few weeks, hasn’t it? In due time this will end soon.”

She laughed again, this time sounding more hollow. “Fuck, I certainly hope so.”

G’raha Tia was suddenly reminded of the time when the portal to the World of Darkness had opened and when Azura was told to come back to Saint Coinach’s Find. She had obliged of course, but he only needed to see a glimpse of her face to notice that her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying only moments before.

It wasn’t until the two of them were alone when she confided in him that the pain of watching everyone in the Waking Sands being massacred had finally caught up to her, but not much else. He wanted to ask, but he was afraid to invoke her ire. So instead he remained uncertain if there was something else.

He didn’t find out until he woke up much, much later. And by then he couldn’t apologize, only weep as he was taken to where she had been buried, her body having never shown any signs of rot. Yet despite the fact that she must have been in pain when the Black Rose spread across her body she looked peaceful, as if she finally could rest.

And then, everything was revealed to the man formerly known as G’raha Tia. About how the illegitimate son of House Fortemps had shielded Azura from a mortal blow, only requesting for her to smile one last time. How she had been fighting to end one war in Ishgard only to be pulled into another spanning across Gyr Abania to the Far East almost immediately after.

It only took a glance at her figure to see the horrible scar underneath the open white shirt she wore. It wasn’t elegant by any way, stretching from her chest down to her ribcage, looking almost akin to a crescent moon in a twisted way. But he also knew that he didn’t need to ask about it because he knew exactly who caused it. One whose name she cried out in her nightmares, pleading for him to stop haunting her. Every now and then he’s had to calm Azura down as she woke up, hysterically sobbing in his arms.

If G’raha Tia had the chance, he would personally fight Zenos yae Galvus himself if it meant saving Azura from her torment and putting an end to her nightmares. Yet he knew it was her fight, and thus he couldn’t do anything. And it pained him to come to that conclusion.

In the midst of all that moping, G’raha Tia was quickly yanked back to reality by her cold fingers brushing his left hand.

“I’ve… started to worry.” Her voice, usually ringing clear like a bell was now barely above a whisper and shaking. “It feels like whatever I wind up doing next will just lead to more ruin. More death.” He saw her hand hesitate before she wrapped her fingers around his wrist. “I’m sorry that I’m like this.”

G’raha Tia felt his eyes starting to burn, but he let the tears remain lodged in his throat. “Apologizing isn’t needed, Azura. In these times, all one can do is look forward and prepare. As we have before.”

He knew full well how hollow those words sounded. G’raha Tia knew how to remain an inspiration and a leader in times of despair, but now… he was at a loss. Somehow, around Azura Riannon he remained frozen, unable to know what was the best to say. It was just like back when they originally said their farewells. Before he sealed himself away.

_Why is it that I’m scared of telling you my feelings?_

The grip around his wrist tightened and he could feel Azura’s fingernails digging into his flesh, if only slightly. He only needed to turn his head slightly to see her looking down at the railing, not meeting his gaze as she breathed heavily to steel herself. But G’raha Tia could see the tears trailing down her freckled cheeks, splashing on the cold black metal.

“I see you in my dreams.” He noticed that the Raen was biting her lip. “You tell me those words, those same goddamn words. That I shouldn’t cry, that I should smile as it better suits a hero like Haurchefant did…”

“Isn’t that what you’d want?”

Her nails dug deeper and she finally locked eyes with him. “I’m sick of hearing that from you.”

He saw it now, almost exactly like back then. Her eyes were flooded with tears that seemed to glisten under the light of the Crystal Tower, but he also saw that her brows were furrowed. That same anger, the same exasperation at his willingness to become a martyr for her sake.

She let go of his wrist, taking a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes on the hem of her sleeves. In that moment, G’raha Tia saw the full extent of who the Warrior of Darkness truly was - not the stoic, iron willed Au Ra with a greatsword strapped to her back, but a scarred and tired girl who carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. In that moment, he felt a wave of guilt wash over him for sounding so selfish.

“Azura, I--”

She had turned around to fully face him, grasping at his robes with her hands as she tried dragging him closer. “You read the memoirs. You heard of what had happened in Gyr Abania and Doma. Amongst everyone, you should know everything.”

At this point G’raha Tia felt the tears well up again within him, too. “Even then that was only a fraction, wasn’t it? Books and stories can only tell so much.”

“In my dreams, the crystal takes over you entirely. You’re in my arms, but suffering from so much pain. And then as you smile one last time, you--” Azura couldn’t finish the sentence before her body was taken over by deep, heaving sobs.

“I love you so, so much Raha. I don’t want to lose you, not like the others. Don’t join them, I beg of you...”

“... I won’t go anywhere. For where else could I go? Who else could I love but you?”

Beneath the moonless sky, all G’raha Tia could do was weep alongside Azura in a gentle embrace, uttering a promise that rang hollow. He wished to stay with her, but the question is if he could.

_Please let this moment last forever._

**Author's Note:**

> Long time no see? Hello.  
> I, ehh, only really started shipping my WoL with the Exarch as a joke and then I actually seriously started to enjoy that dynamic and now I put myself into the most brutal pit of sadness. The good thing is that I read A LOT of gothic ghost and horror stories back in middle school and that's what I excel at.  
> I also wrote this to try and stall the want for patch 5.3 now that it's been delayed to August. I pray hope this won't end in tears.


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